Lullaby for a Stormy Night
by Gaara's Desert Rose-Hasame
Summary: [One shot]When a babysitter comes to the Kazekage's place to watch over his children. A mix of ramen and thunderstorms. first SONGFIC!


This is a one shot songfic! MY FIRST! WHEEE! ok, once again, this has an OC in it, cuz i cant find any young woman to star in this fanfic. So, meet Toshima Yuki. Shes 16 in this story and Gaara is 6, Temari is 9, and Kankuro is 8. Um...i dont really know the weather in Suna, so im going to try and guess, ok?

Requiem for the child of the sand

In the house of the Kazekage, laughter and yells rang through the halls as his oldest children ran around chasing each other.

"Kankurou! Give me back my elastics! I need to put my hair up!" screeched the nine year old girl, her blonde hair flying around her pink face. The boy who stole her hair elastics was clad in black with messy brown hair and was laughing, waving the elastics in the air above his head.

"KANKUROU!" Shrieked Temari, chasing her younger brother through the halls of the magnificent house.

Watching his siblings run around, a little boy with unruly red hair sat on a chair, holding a bear tightly.

His pale blue eyes scanned the room he was in. His bed room was filled with these stuffed animals and other play things to keep himself humored. But eventually, the material objects faded from his enjoyment and he became bored again.

A door slammed shut and voices carried through the house. Gaara's ear pricked at the new sound.

The voices were muffled by the walls and the floor beneath his feet.

A pair of feet clomped heavily up the stairs, while a different set of footsteps followed, softly and quickly.

The screaming and giggling from Temari and Kankurou stopped as they fell silent. Gaara leaned to the left to see around the door frame. Their father towered over them, a hard look staring at them.

"These are my children, Kankurou, and Temari."

Temari and Kankurou murmured a hello and bowed respectfully at the new comer. The person didn't say anything, but from the look on Kankurou and Temari's faces, she was either smiling or looked frightened.

"It's nice to meet you." said a feminin voice quietly, as she bowed. Gaara only saw long black hair bend over, and pale hands on her knees.

"She will be watching over you three for tonight while I am away, understood?" commanded their father. The brother and sister nodded in comprehension.

"Now, the other child is in his bedroom, right across the hall." said the Kazekage, and the heavy footsteps thumped towards his bedroom.

Entered his father and the female into his room, the girl following tentitivly behind the Kazekage.

"This is Gaara." The girl looked at the man in front of her at the way he said his son's name. She shifted her gaze to the little boy in the chair, clutching the bear. She smiled softly. Gaara blinked.

The Kazekage turned swiftly and stalked out of the room.

"Toshima-san, I recommend you follow me. I'll show you the kitchen and other rooms." he said, glancing over his shoulder at the young woman. She nodded and followed, taking one last look at the little boy.

Hearing the door click shut downstairs, the young woman looked around for the children.

"Temari? Kankurou...where are you?" she called quietly. She heard giggles from the kitchen. Smiling, the babysitter walked softly towards their near silent laughter. Bending down quickly, she caught the two children under the table.

"I got you!" she laughed, tickling the two. They squealed and ran again into another room.

The woman watched them go and sit on the couch, watching outside the window.

"It's getting dark." stated Kankurou. Temari smacked him across the head.

"No duh, stupid. It's not getting any lighter, is it?" scolded the older sister as Kankurou stuck out his lower lip and rubbed his head.

The babysitter smiled and looked up the stairs. Climbing the steps, she entered the hallways and looked into the red haired boy's room. He was still there, sitting on the chair and playing with his teddy bear's partially ripped ear. She walked in slowly and his head jerked up. She raised a hand, as if to show him it was only her. She knelt down in front of him.

"Hi." she said softly. "I'm Yuki. What's yours?"

Gaara stared at her.

"Father already told you." he mumbled, averting her gaze.

"I'd like to hear you say your name." she encouraged, grinning. Gaara looked up at her again.

"Gaara."

"I like that name." Her green eyes went to the kenji on his fore head, above his left eye.

"What happened there?" she asked, pointing at the mark. Gaara's eyes widened, and didn't say anything.

"It's ok, you don't have to say if you don't want to." Yuki said, brushing the red hair away from around the character. She stood up, and held out a hand.

"Want to come downstairs?" she inquired. Gaara stared at the hand, then hesitantly took it and slipped down from the chair. Grinning, Yuki lead him down the stairs and into the living room where his brother and sister were quarrelling noisily. They stopped as Yuki and Gaara entered the room, looking slightly frightened. Yuki frowned at their silence, and glanced down at Gaara. He didn't look directly at his siblings, only fumbling with his bear.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"I'm hungry!" whined Kankurou as Yuki had Gaara on her lap and Temari recounting animatedly a story that Yuki was sure was extremely exaggerated.

"Make me something!" he said, tugging on her sleeve. She laughed and ruffled his messy brown hair.

"Ok. Temari, Gaara? Do you two want something also?" Temari nodded vigorously and bounded to the kitchen.

"Make this! Make this!" Kankurou chanted, waving a box of ramen around. Temari scowled and hit him across the head again.

"We ALWAYS have ramen! And it's no good! It always tastes the same!" she said.

Yuki lifted Gaara off her lap and walked into the kitchen with him, taking the box from Kankurou and reading the recipe.

"Hm...I think I could make it a bit more interesting, Temari." Grinned Yuki and took out some ingredients that the children did not even know they had.

A few minutes later, as the three children sat around the table, Yuki set down three bowls of ramen for them. It looked delicious.

Kankurou's eyes widened at his food.

"Wow." he said, and picked up his chopsticks.

Temari inhaled the smell wafting from it and she poked out her tongue.

"It smells great!" Picking up her chopsticks as well, the little blonde took a large portion and stuffed it in her mouth. Both siblings stopped and looked at Yuki.

"This is excellent!" cried out Kankurou, his mouth full and began shoveling down the ramen.

Gaara stared at his food, looking curiously at the bowl of ramen. Yuki sat down beside him.

"Are you not hungry?" Gaara nodded his head and picked up his chopsticks a bit clumsily. He attempted to put a few noddles into his mouth, but they kept on slipping through the sticks. His face flushed as he tried over and over again. Yuki suddenly noticed something stirring at the base of the chair. Looking closely, her green eyes widened. It was sand. She also noticed that Temari and Kankurou were watching him cautiously.

"Here, let me help you." Yuki enclosed her hand around Gaara's little one, adjusted his hold on the sticks and helped him pick up the noodles. Gaara stared at her in surprise. She smiled and showed him the food in his chopsticks. Letting go of his hand, Yuki watched him put the food into his mouth. Throughout the whole meal, the young woman occasionally helped Gaara with his hold on the utensile, but let him do it himself.

"Whoa...that was good." Kankurou sighed, rubbing his stomach contently.

Yuki glanced out the window. It began raining. Temari and Kankurou bounded off the chairs and ran up the stairs.

"Hey! Where are you going?" called the teenager quickly.

"We're getting ready for bed. What else?" answered Temari matter-of-factly.

Yuki raised her black eyebrows.

"What time do you three go to bed at?" she asked Gaara.

"They go usually at seven..." he said quietly.

"They? What about you?" Yuki looked confused.

Gaara only shook his red head and slipped off his chair. He climbed the stairs as Yuki followed.

Thunder cracked loudly, making Yuki jump on the couch. She was reading an article in a magazine, when lightening flashed and the lights flickered. She had already put Temari and Kankuro to bed a while ago, but she wasn't sure about Gaara. He didn't seem to want to go to sleep. So, letting him be, she went downstairs.

Thunder boomed again, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

She heard something from upstairs. Getting off the couch, Yuki walked up the stairs slowly. Standing in the hallway, she heard the noise again. Creaking open Gaara's bedroom door, she saw the little boy sitting on the edge of his bed crying. He was clutching his teddy bear tightly, and would flinch whenever thunder exploded.

Yuki walked over to him, and he jumped at her touch.

"Hey there. You ok?" she asked. Gaara looked at her, tears streaming down his face. He sobbed when lighting illuminated the room again, followed by thunder.

"Hey hey hey...come here." she pulled the boy onto her lap, and he immediatly curled up against her. Holding his shaking body, Yuki shushed him, hoping to calm him down.

"_Little child, be not afraid. Though rain pounds harsh against the glass like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger. I am here tonight._" whispered Yuki softly, singing.

Gaara looked up at her, his pale blue eyes shimmering with tears. She smiled at him.

"_Little child, be not afraid. Though thunder explodes and lightining flash. Illuminates your tear-stained face, I am here tonight._"

"_And someday you'll know that nature is so. The same rain that draws you near me falls on rivers and land, on forest and sand..."_ Thunder roared and the rain raged on the window, making Gaara jump in her arms.

"_Makes the beautiful world that you'll see in the morning._

_Little child, be not afraid. Thought storm clouds mask your beloved moon and it's candle light beam, still keep pleasant dreams. I am here tonight._" Yuki began stroking his red hair assuringly, feeling him slowly stop shivering.

"_Little child, be not afraid. Thought wind makes creatures of our trees and their branches to hands, they're not real, understand. I am here tonight._"

_"For you know, once even I was a little child, and I was afraid. But a gentle someone always came to dry all my tears, trade sweet dreams with tears and give a kiss goodnight._" Yuki wiped the tears from Gaara's face, and saw him relax, no longer noticing the thunder and rain.

"_Well now I am grown, and these years have shown that rain's a part of how life goes, But it's dark and it's late so I'll hold you and wait 'til your frightened eyes do close. And I hope that you'll know..."_

Gaara shifted his position on Yuki's lap, resting his head against her stomach and hugging his teddy bear. Not in fear this time.

_"That nature is so. The same rain that draws you near me falls on rivers and land, on forest and sand, makes the beautiful world that you'll see in the morning._"

_"Everything's fine in the morning. The rain'll be gone in the morning...But I'll still be here in the morning..._" Yuki picked up Gaara and tucked him beneath his covers. Giving him a kiss on the forehead, she smiled.

"Do you think you can relax now, Gaara?" The little boy nodded. Before Yuki got up from the bed, she felt small arms wrap around her waist.

"Thank you." he whispered, then fell back against the pillow.

Gaara rose from his bed the next morning, after hearing his siblings get up, and ran down the stairs, expecting to see Yuki in the living room but...

"Where is she?" he asked, seeing his father sitting on the couch, watching the television. He looked up, and scowled at he had interupted his show.

"She left. She was only staying for the night." he said sharply, focusing on the television again. Gaara bowed his head and clutched angrily at his bear's arm. He climbed the stairs again, passing his brother and sister and sat on his bed. Feeling angry that Yuki had lied to him, Gaara was about to tear apart one of the horrid stuffed animals in his room with the sand when something caught his eye.

It was a photo. A photo of Yuki leaning against the picture of his mother. A note laid beside the picture. Gaara tried reading the clear characters. Having a bit of trouble though it, he eventually read the whole thing.

_I told you I'd be here in the morning._

_Yuki_


End file.
